In a remarkable advancement for medical science, doctors have successfully performed the world’s first liver transplant from a pig to a human.
According to a NAN report released on Thursday, the patient, a 71-year-old man, survived for nearly six months after undergoing the groundbreaking procedure.
The man’s liver had been severely damaged by hepatitis B infection and liver cancer, which made him ineligible for a traditional human liver transplant.
This milestone represents the first instance in which a genetically modified pig liver has been transplanted into a living human for “therapeutic purposes.”
Before this, two earlier trials had been conducted on brain-dead patients as part of initial research efforts.
Details published in the Journal of Hepatology showed that genetically engineered pig livers can perform vital metabolic and synthetic functions within the human body.
Researchers in China explained that they implanted an “auxiliary graft” from a genetically modified Diannan miniature pig, whose genes were altered to enhance organ compatibility with human recipients.
Medical experts observed that the transplanted organ functioned well during the first month.
However, on the 38th day, it had to be removed after complications developed due to a condition known as xenotransplantation-associated thrombotic microangiopathy (xTMA).
Although the condition was later resolved with treatment, the patient passed away 171 days after the surgery.
“This case proves that a genetically engineered pig liver can function in a human for an extended period,” said lead investigator Dr Beicheng Sun, from the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University in China’s Anhui Province.
“It is a pivotal step forward, demonstrating both the promise and the remaining hurdles, particularly regarding coagulation dysregulation and immune complications, that must be overcome.”
In an accompanying editorial, Dr Heiner Wedemeyer, co-editor of the Journal of Hepatology, said: “This report is a landmark in hepatology; it shows that a genetically modified porcine liver can engraft and deliver key hepatic functions in a human recipient.
At the same time, it highlights the biological and ethical challenges that remain before such approaches can be translated into wider clinical use.
Xenotransplantation may open completely new paths for patients with acute liver failure, acute-on-chronic liver failure, and hepatocellular carcinoma. A new era of transplant hepatology has started.”
Xenotransplantation refers to the transfer of organs, tissues, or cells from animals into humans.
Pigs are considered the most suitable donor species because of progress in gene-editing technologies, their anatomical similarities to humans, and the compatible size of their organs.
For more than four decades, researchers have been working to overcome the human immune system’s rejection of pig organs.
Recent advances in gene editing and immune suppression have produced encouraging outcomes.
In 2022, David Bennett became the first person to receive a heart transplant from a genetically modified pig at the University of Maryland Medical Centre in the United States.
He lived for two months after the operation. Likewise, in 2024, Richard Slayman, a 62-year-old man, became the first recipient of a genetically modified pig kidney transplant at Massachusetts General Hospital, surviving nearly two months following the procedure.
(dpa/NAN)
